March BookPage Children's Reviews

Uh-one and uh-two and uh-three...

Counting book reviews by Alice Cary

How many times can you count to ten, and back again?

Countless times, as any parent knows. After all, counting books (as well as their -- er -- counterpart, alphabet books) are a mainstay of reading lists for preschoolers, toddlers, and babies. The best are simple enough for beginning number-crunchers, yet creative enough so that adult readers don't nod off.

I've been up and down that seemingly endless one-car, two-car, three-car highway myself. When my now-preschool son was a baby, I splurged on a counting book with a Caribbean setting because I couldn't bear to enumerate yet another car, cow, or kitten. We ended up counting pink houses, palm trees, and steel drums, much to my delight, although Will, for the record, seemed to prefer more standard fare.

At any rate, here's a sextet of four-star counting books bound to please one and all.